ABSTRACT

The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has posed substantial threats to global public health. Individuals are extensively exposed to interpersonal sources of health information (e.g., family, friends, colleagues, physicians, and pharmacists). Interpersonal connections often encourage people to question or reinforce other sources of health information, which can affect their perceptions and behaviors. This study integrates research on how exposure to interpersonal health communication affects people’s risk perception and affective responses to influence health-protective behaviors such as health information seeking and adherence to protective measures. Findings from an online survey of U.S. adults (n = 488) demonstrated that risk perception and affective responses serve as behavioral motivation factors. The influences of cognitive and affective responses were greater to the extent that individuals believed the health-protective behaviors are beneficial. Our study illuminates how people engage in preventive health behaviors to protect themselves in the COVID-19 context and demonstrates the influence of interpersonal social networks in motivating such behaviors. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

摘要

2019 年新型冠状病毒 (COVID-19) 已对全球公共卫生构成重大威胁。个人广泛接触健康信息的人际来源（例如，家人、朋友、同事、医生和药剂师）。人际关系通常会鼓励人们质疑或强化其他来源的健康信息，这会影响他们的看法和行为。本研究整合了关于接触人际健康交流如何影响人们的风险感知和情感反应以影响健康保护行为（例如寻求健康信息和遵守保护措施）的研究。一项针对美国成年人 (n = 488) 的在线调查结果表明，风险感知和情感反应是行为动机因素。认知和情感反应的影响在个人认为健康保护行为有益的程度上更大。我们的研究阐明了人们如何在 COVID-19 背景下采取预防性健康行为来保护自己，并展示了人际社交网络对激励此类行为的影响。讨论了这些发现的理论和实践意义。